Stephen O'Neill retirement official

[Zulu]

SON definately had some games when he kicked a few wides alright, but that was only because he had the confidence to go for them. When you have a guy of his talent you get the ball too him and let him have the pop. People can get a bit wishy washy about lads who no longer play but SON was always my favourite current player and I'm not from Tyrone. He was the player I wished I had been, truely a joy to watch.

[ONeill]

Here, right in front of me, in the media section at the time, on TV now.

[orangeman]

Mc Guigan and O'Neill are incomparable as players IMO

[Puckoon]

They are both integral vital parts of the success of Tyrone. Comparisons cant really be made. Brian couldnt play the role stephen played and Stephen wouldnt be the playmaker for others that Brian is.

Watched the 05 trilogy last night when I was up with the wee one. Great viewing.

[Hollow Man]

I have to say as a Cavan fan I'm delighted O'Neill has retired, and I wish a few more of the top Ulster players would.

[armaghniac]

I have to say as a Cavan fan I'm delighted O'Neill has retired, and I wish a few more of the top Ulster players would.

To give Cavan a chance perhaps a few of middle rank players would have to retire as well. 
(Please don't quote this if Cavan beat Armagh next week)

[orangeman]

It's official - Cavan are on their way back !!!!!!! 

[ONeill]

Didn't know about Stephen's paramilitary background!!!!!!!!!

[ONeill]

Didn't last long.

[Main Street]

You mean this one
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_O%27Neill&diff=186902721&oldid=186801296

The ip address (talk) on that edit  points to somebody using a computer in Dublin.

[tyssam5]

Living away from home for some time now I'm not as familiar with Stephen as most of my Fellow Clann clubmates.
However I can testify that he is and always was one of the most HUMBLE, softly spoken gentlemen you could ever meet.

Unfortunately he like PTG took some amount of abuse over the years and unlike Peter he was as strong as a horse and so often Refs would offer him little to no protection whilst he was being dragged and fouled as we say more and more post 2003. I suppose teams started double marking him and using blanket defense to smother his influence.

I'm no expert in the matter but iMHO he has totally Overdosed on football ever since he went to St Marys with him playing for u-21 club, U-21 county, club senior, county senior and also for Ballymena soccer club all at the one time.
The man eats drinks and breathes football even more so than Dooher and I think it was inevitable that he would get loads of inuries and suffer burnout.

Like my brother, Stevie and Dooher are ball carriers and if you run with the ball you tend to get a lot of bad tackles and get targeted for special attention.
I think Stevie has realised now that there is more to live than football and he's now thinking about marriage and having kids.
He's probably been told time and time again if he continues to play thru the pain barrier then he could end up with long term problems

Maybe he's realised this and has decided that his old friend Harte is maybe too driven to win another AI at any cost and that his longterm well being is not on Mickey's agenda. I heard 3rd hand earlier this year that they had a disagreement about his injuries but of course I don't know how accurate this was.

I am beginning to question whether Mickey is as goodie good shoes as he likes to protray. I've heard he's a very driven man and so his ultimate success depends on this Tyrone team winnng a third all-Ireland. He know's with McGuigan and 11 and SON at 14 he had some chance of that. So naturally he'll bust a gut to get Stevie to play no matter how bad it might be for his long term health.

This is only my own opinion and I've no inside info so don't quote me as this being TRUE
I know Stevie is a much more private person than Harte and would not like all this speculation going on around him

Finally, can I say how pathetic it is of ye sad Armagh lads to try to drag a player and a fine upstanding man like Stephen into the mud with thugs like we have in lots of teams in our game, including Tyrone. I believe Stevie rang up Joan Toal the night it happened in hospital and expressed his regret of the incident. Can you imagine someone like Ricey, Francie (gentle as he is), Casey from Dublin or Galvin from Kerry having the decency to ring someone up. I think NOT!

As a few posters said. IGNORE such sad Pathetic posts as that's all they deserve.

Fuzzman, You criticise some people for dragging a player's name 'through the mud', but then you go on to name 4 other players yourself and question their decency? What's that about?

[orangeman]

I reckon Ricey, Francie, Paul Casey and Galvin would all be dead on fellas and their off field characters would be entirely different to how they may be preceived on it -

For example, look at Mick Lyons - he was one hard man on the field and now he a Laochra gael on TG4 !!!!!!!! 

[Will Hunting]

'Well firstly, i never said O'Neill was a dirty player.

Your second point there smacks of pettiness. From what i remember it was one of your Tyrone 'heroes' who saw red that day.'

Will, 95% of your posts on this board are anti-Tyrone ... you're obsessed, mate.  Get over it. We have 2 Sams, you have 1, even though the team that won you that 1 were well capable of winning far more but for the fact they tore themselves apart with their infighting .... AM I RIGHT OR AM I RIGHT?

You are indeed correct red hander in that we could/should have won more than 1 all-ireland in the 90's. Maybe if there had been a back-door in those days we would have!

As for 95% of my posts being anti-Tyrone - scurrilous nonsense. My posts on this thread haven't even been anti-Tyrone. You like the thought of me being obsessed with Tyrone, but you're seeing something that isn't there 'mate'.

[saffron sam2]

Another serious question here for the Tyrone posters.

Given, as it seems to increasingly clear, that there is an issue between O'Neill and Harte preventing the two of them working together, which of the two would you rather have involved?

[new devil]

O'Neill..dont think harte will be there after this year